In February, Marquez Tolbert, 24 and Anthony Gooden, 23 were asleep at an apartment that Gooden shares with his mother. The mother’s boyfriend, Martin Blackwell, allegedly committed a hate crime by tossing boiling water on the couple. “Get out of my house with all that gay,” said Blackwell to the couple. Gooden and Tolbert suffered second and third-degree burns throughout 60% of their bodies, including the neck, back, arms and chest. “They’ll be all right. It was just a little hot water on them,” Blackwell reportedly told police at the time. The victim’s burns were so bad, doctors had to graft skin from their legs to heal them. Tolbert said he can’t even go outside because his skin is so sensitive, it feels like the sun’s warmth is burning his body all over again. While Georgia does not prosecute hate crimes, they may be sought on the federal level during an upcoming court hearing. WSB-TV

Surgical Tech May Have Exposed 5,000 Patients To HIV

Rocky Allen, 28, has been indicted on charges of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit for swapping out syringes full of the liquid painkiller fentanyl in operating rooms in multiple hospitals. At least six hospitals in Colorado, Arizona, California and Washington, nearly 5,000 patients have been told they could have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV when they underwent surgery. The notices advising patients to get tested have sparked concern and threats of legal action. Several of the hospitals said they had no evidence that patients had been exposed, that the risk was “extremely low” and that they were notifying people out of an abundance of caution. “We are deeply saddened that the actions of a former employee may have placed our patients at risk, and we understand the concern this notification may cause our patients and their loved ones,” said one of Allen’s former employers, Northwest Hospital in Settle in a on its website. CNN

NSA Denies Clinton’s Request

Prior to her ongoing email investigation, Hillary Clinton requested a secure Blackberry from the NSA, similar to President Obama‘s but that access was denied. A representative with the NSA reportedly told Clinton’s team they were concerned with the BlackBerry’s security capability. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was apparently given a waiver which allowed her to have a private line but the NSA has since stopped providing waivers because of safety concerns. The president of the Judicial Watch hopes that Clinton’s deliberate choice to use her phone for confidential correspondences will be of interest to the FBI saying, “These documents show that Hillary Clinton knew her BlackBerry wasn’t secure. Then why did she use it to access classified information on her illicit email server?” AJC

Seaworld Announces It’s Plan To Stop Animal Cruelty

For years, popular family destination Seaworld has been under scrutiny because of it’s trained killer whales. Moving forward, the animals will no longer leap from their pools or splash audiences on command. The brand also continues to fight the misconception that whales caught in the wild have a better quality of life than those animals that work as attractions. “This year we will end all orca breeding programs — and because SeaWorld hasn’t collected an orca from the wild in almost four decades, this will be the last generation of orcas in SeaWorld’s care” said company CEOJoel Manby in an opt We are also phasing out our theatrical orca whale shows.” LA Times